Steam Power, Railroads, and the Hersey & Bean Lumber Company

The earliest mills depended on water to power their saws. But in 1855, the Hersey, Staples Company (later Hersey and Bean) built the first steam powered sawmill on the St. Croix on this location just south of Stillwater. Steam powered a mechanized gang saw of twenty parallel sash saws and the first circular saw in the area. In 1871, when rail approached from the south along Main Street, Hersey and Bean Company revamped the original mill, built a new modern planning mill and connected to the new rail line. The company doubled its output. A mechanized steam loader, replacing men who could not keep up with the output of the new planning mill, lifted the cut lumber directly onto waiting rail cars. Connection to the railroad augmented rafting on the river and gave the mills access to more markets. By 1870, a series of houses and boarding houses known as “Slab Alley” went up across Main Street and were occupied by workers from the mill and other industries in Stillwater. Although the mill was closed and dismantled in 1906, limestone foundations and walls that were once part of this expansive industrial complex are still visible today.

[Photo captions:} , {Upper Right:} Detail of Hersey Bean Mills from Andreas Atlas (1874). , {Upper Left:} Slab alley neighborhood across Main St. from the lumbermills (1932). Source: Minnesota Historical Society, Runk Collection , {Center:} Hersey and bean Lumber Co. employees (ca. 1890). Source: Minnesota Historical Society, Runk Collection , {Bottom Left:} Hersey Bean Lumber Co., Office and incinerator (view to southeast, downriver) (ca. 1897). Source: Minnesota Historical Society, Runk Collection